The embodiments herein relate generally to standard manual wheelchairs.
Wheelchairs are used primarily by individuals who have a difficult time walking due to an illness, injury or disability. Most manual wheelchairs are comprised of a pair of rear drive wheels and a pair of passive caster wheels in the front. The occupant rotates the rear wheels by hand to propel, steer or stop the wheelchair. Currently, hemiplegic and one-armed patients do not have safe and effective directional control when attempting to operate the standard manual wheelchair.
Several wheelchair steering devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,241,932, 3,388,926 and 3,810,658. However, these steering devices have many limitations. In particular, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,241,932 and 3,388,926 disclose a pivotable foot member or turntable coupled to a caster wheel by linking members. Adjustments of the foot member or turntable steer the caster wheel. The other caster wheel is not connected to the steering device and is free-floating, which is problematic when this caster wheel becomes caught on an obstruction such as a rock, twig, branch, or the like. U.S. Pat. No. 3,810,658 discloses a wheelchair steering apparatus that is connected to both caster wheels. However, this device is difficult to use. In particular, the caster wheels are directly steered by lateral movement of a leg rest designed to accommodate the underside of the user's knee. This is problematic because the user's lateral movement of one leg on the leg rest is restricted by the positioning of his/her other leg. As a result, the user's ability to effectively steer the wheelchair's caster wheels is hindered.
As such, there is a need in the industry for an effective directional control system, which enables hemiplegics to safely and effectively operate a manual wheelchair. In particular, there is a need for a foot actuated steering system for manual wheelchairs that allows one-armed operators the option to safely and effectively steer the wheelchair without the help of others while overcoming the limitations of the prior art.